Akhilesh Yadav slams UP govt over ban on migrants walking home, mocks Vande Bharat mission

Attacking the Yogi government over the stranded migrant issues, Samajwadi party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said that it is 'malicious' to ban the entry of migrants who are walking on foot to reach their native towns. He alleged that the governments are meddling with labour laws and proving themselves to be 'government of the rich.' He also went on to attack the Centre's Vande Bharat Mission to bring back the stranded Indians from foreign countries.

He said: "The BJP government has ordered that the migrant workers will not be allowed to enter the UP border, nor will they walk on the road or rail tracks, nor will they let go by truck and two-wheeler. The anti-poor policies of the BJP are forcing people to do illegal work."

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Steps taken by Yogi govt so far

The remark by Yadav comes after CM Yogi instructed all district magistrates to arrange buses for migrant workers, who are found walking on foot, to send them to their homes and banned the entry of any migrants on foot and trucks. He also directed the district officials to seize vehicles carrying migrants without prior permission and ordered to file cases against the vehicle owners and drivers. 

On Saturday, a truck collided with a DCM van in Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya around 3.30 AM killing as many as 15 migrant workers and injuring more than 20. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured. Earlier, CM Yogi had expressed grief over the death of eight migrant labourers in Madhya Pradesh's Guna after the truck they were travelling in collided with a bus, and the deaths of six migrant workers in another mishap on Muzaffarnagar-Saharanpur highway in his own state. He had then announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia each to the next of kin of the deceased and compensation of Rs 50,000 each to injured in both the accidents. 

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Stranded migrants issue

After PM Modi had announced the first phase of lockdown, on March 28, thousands of migrant workers were seen thronging the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border at Delhi's Anand Vihar Interstate Bus Terminal in the hope of reaching their homes, defying lockdown and creating a health hazard. Similarly, after PM Modi announced the extension of the lockdown till May 3, on April 14, around 2,000 migrant workers gathered at Bandra station, under the illusion of boarding 'Jansadharan Express' trains to UP, Bengal and Bihar. Apart from this several visuals have been seen of thousands of migrants walking across state borders to reach their native homes due to loss of income amid lockdown. Three major accidents have also occurred in which 82 migrants have been killed.

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National migrant Information System

Meanwhile, on Saturday evening, Centre launched the National migrant Information System (NMIS)- based on the existing National disaster management authority (NDMA)'s GIS portal to streamline the movement of stranded migrants across the nation travelling via 'Shramik' trains and buses. The portal will maintain a central repository of the migrants travelling from one state to other and aid in contact tracing. As of date 1074 Shramik special trains have been operated ferrying more than 14 lakh workers.

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